Homecoming At Bellerive: Former St. Louis Resident Earns Spot In 100th PGA Championship

Michael Block grew up just a few miles from Bellerive Country Club and will be back in town for the PGA Championship this August.

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The city of St. Louis will now have a hometown boy to root for at the 2018 PGA Championship. St. Louis native and PGA Professional Michael Block finished T-16 in the 2018 PGA Professional Championship, Wednesday in Seaside, Calif., to qualify for the 100th Championship at Bellerive Country Club, August 9-12.

It will be the ultimate homecoming for Block, who played golf at Parkway Central High School and the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He now lives in Mission Viejo, Calif., where he is the head golf professional at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club.

"I almost just missed the U.S. Open just so I could come to (the Professional Championship), so I could qualify for Bellerive," Block says. "For me to be able to play Bellerive is just the coolest thing in the world.

"For me to go back and all the friends and family back there, it's just going to be so cool."

The top-20 low scorers in the Professional Championship annually qualify to compete in the PGA Championship, and Block – the 2014 PGA Professional Champion. He has played in the PGA Championship once before and has played in five PGA Major Championship events.

"I've always been a working club pro," Block says. "I never went out and tried to play I was always about just going to work and for me to go there and have a job and be able to play, it's just the best."

"A hundred percent, I would not be here playing today if it weren't for Dylan," Block said. "I would have been on the road right now heading back to work. For him to find that ball yesterday was absolutely crazy. He's been amazing. To have my son out here, I couldn't ask for anything better. And he's just awesome."